User:Fulbe/Dr. Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo

Introduction

Dr. Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo was born in Bichi Local Government Area of Kano State in May 1930 to a family of distinguished Islamic Scholars and Jurists. His father, the late Alkalin Bichi Ibrahim, moved to Kano circa 190x, during the reign of Emir of Kano Sulaiman. A man of great learning, he was welcomed by the court and was given a piece of land in Tudun Wuzurchi quarters, very near to the Emir's palace. In time, he became one of the Emir's most trusted advisers.

Dr. Hassan Gwarzo's mother, Halimatu, was a direct descendant of Abdullahi bin Fodio, a great Islamic reformer in his own right and brother of the 18th century Fulani reformer, Uthman bin Fodio.

Early life and education

Young Hassan started his education as most children do, at the Qur'anic school, before progressing through elementary and middle school. One of his earliest and lifelong friends, Prof. Shehu Galadanchi was his classmate and they used to go to school together. Hassan's father died when he was about seven years old and one of his eldest brothers, who was then an Alkali (Judge) in Gwarzo town, took him and his younger brother Ambassador Abdulkadir Ibrahim and enrolled both of them in school there. On their return to Kano, a few years later, they were enrolled in school as Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo and Abdulkadir Ibrahim Gwarzo. So it was, that although they were not indigenes of Gwarzo, they came to bear the name of the town, a name that Hassan would bear for the rest of his life. However, later in life, his brother, removed the Gwarzo from his name. Hassan also attended the middle school, now Rumfa College and was made the Head Boy, even though his class was not the most senior. The present Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero was one of his close friends and his senior by one year in the school.

Higher education Hassan was among a group of young northern Nigerians who studied at the Bakht-ar-Ruda Academy in Sudan. Others in the group included the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, Prof. Shehu Galadanchi, Prof. Halliru Binji, Sheikh Ahmad Lemu, Justice Bashir Sambo, Alhaji Bib Faruk among others. A short period after his return to Nigeria, Hassan was, in 196x, at the age of thirty-x, granted a scholarship by the Northern Region Government to undertake a first degree in the United Kingdom. Six years later, he completed a Doctorate Degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies, in the Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His PhD thesis was on the life and controversies of the 17th century North African Islamic reformer, Al-Maghili. His research took him to several countries including Morocco, France, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

Academic career

Dr. Hassan Gwarzo started his career as a teacher and was at various times a lecturer and later Principal of the School for Arabic Studies (SAS) and a founding member of faculty at Abdullahi Bayero College, of Ahmadu Bello University, (later to become Bayero University, Kano). Judicial career

In 1975, he was appointed a Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal in Kano by the then Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, and a year later in 1976, as the state's first Grand Khadi, by Murtala's successor General Olusegun Obasanjo.

Islamic da'wah

Along with some of his closest friends like Prof. Shehu Galadanchi, Dr. Hassan Gwarzo founded the Islamic Foundation of Nigeria, an affiliate of the Islamic Foundation, Leicester, UK. He became it's pioneer Chairman in 19Xx, a position he held until his death. He was also the Chairman of the Council of Ulama of Nigeria from 198x until his death in 1990.